pednutrition

Children’s Nutrition : Children’s Nutrition Christina Updegrove Ginger Shriver


Food Pyramid : Food Pyramid Talks about foods in terms of Grains Dairy Meats, and Fruits/Vegetables.


Six basic “nutrients”: : Six basic “nutrients”: Fats – dairy, meats Carbohydrates – grains, fruits/vegetables Proteins –meats/eggs Vitamins – fruits and vegetables Minerals – dairy, fruits and vegetables Water


Each nutrient serves at least one of the following functions: : Each nutrient serves at least one of the following functions: Energy production: Carbs.: every body cell can use carbs for energy, depleted rather quickly. primary fuel for brain, lungs and red blood cells Fat: most utilized energy source, body has tremendous ability to store. heart and muscles love fat. EFA’s essential for development of brain membranes and nerve coverings Proteins: Not a great source of energy, but available if necessary. Growth and Repair: Proteins needed by all body cells for G&R Minerals: Calcium, phosphorus – Bones and teeth Water Regulators/coordinators Proteins needed for enzymes and hormones Minerals Water Vitamins


How much should my child be eating? : How much should my child be eating? US Department of Agriculture recommends the same NUMBER of servings as an adult, just smaller sizes. 2 meat, 2 milk 3 vegetable, 2 fruit, and 6 grains


So, how big is a serving? : So, how big is a serving? Grains: 1 slice bread ½ c. cooked rice or pasta ½ c. cooked cereal 1 oz. Ready-to-eat cereal Vegetables: ½ c. chopped raw or cooked vegetables One cup. raw leafy vegetables Fruits: 1 piece of fruit or melon wedge ¾ c. of juice ½ c canned fruit ¼ c dried fruit Milk: 1 c. milk or yogurt 2 oz. cheese (cottage cheese is great – high in protein) Meats:2-3 oz. cooked lean meat, poultry or fish (amount that makes a ball in your hand) ½ c. of cooked beans 1 egg counts as one ounce 2 tablespoons of peanut butter count as 1 ounce


Remember : Remember There is a lot of cross-over with nutrients Dairy and meat products have protein and fats Many fruits and vegetables have lots of carbohydrates. It’s pretty hard to be deficient in carbohydrates as long as the child is getting adequate fruits and vegetables.


Keep it simple : Keep it simple Children cannot have too many good fats or carbohydrates. The problem lies in overprocessing Keeping foods whole retains nutrients in forms that the body can use most efficiently


What is a Whole Food?  : What is a Whole Food? Can I imagine it growing? How many ingredients does it have? What’s been done to the food since it was harvested? Is this product “part” of a food or the “whole” entity?


Why Buy Organic? : Why Buy Organic? You are supporting the growers and manufactures who are producing food without the use of the synthetic fertilizes, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides or pesticides that pollute your bodies and your world. Current regulatory practices used to control pesticides in foods are based on studies of pesticide exposure to the general population, without regard to the special needs of the infants and young children.


Interesting Facts : Interesting Facts Examples of some of the most pesticide saturated foods: peanut butter, peanuts, raisins, potato chips. Non- organic apples, peaches, strawberries and celery can contain as many as 80 pesticide residues.


Attracting Your Children to Healthy Eating : Attracting Your Children to Healthy Eating You are your child’s role model! - What do you eat? - What are your eating habits? - How do you feel about food? - Do you talk to your children about the importance of good nutrition and how it effects them? - Are you flexible? If your child is getting great food at home, you can relax about what they may be eating at a birthday party.


Making Foods Fun! : Making Foods Fun! Decorate Food: Use cookie cutters and vegetable cutters to create fun shapes. Use an ice cream scoop for serving brown rice, mashed potatoes, etc. Put faces on foods Use raisins, grated carrots or cheese, small pieces of veggies, chopped nuts, apple slices.


Special Dinnerware and Playful Packaging : Special Dinnerware and Playful Packaging Have special plates, cups, silverware Get your kids to make their own placemats out of construction paper. Have fun with lunch bags and use beautiful and interesting containers for food. Put surprises in the lunchbox A marble, seashell, notes, stickers, a special pencil…


Getting More Veggies in Your Diet : Getting More Veggies in Your Diet Make Dippers: Cut up veggies with tasty dips. Bean dips, guacamole, tofu dips Try steaming veggies for 2-3 min and plunging them into ice water to stop the cooking process. This enhances the flavor and makes them easier to chew and digest. Store in a container in the fridge.


Veggies are Yummy! : Veggies are Yummy! Vegetable juice Try different combinations of veggies and juice Remember that you are removing the fiber and concentrating the sugar so dilute with water. Keep in mind that children who eat whole grains, fruits, beans and high quality meat are getting a lot of vitamins and minerals from these foods as well.


Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal! : Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh, Local, Organic, Seasonal! Fresh produce has lots of vitamins and minerals as well as important enzymes that metabolize the nutrients. Frozen or canned foods are missing enzymes and there nutrient value is decreased with processing. Seasonal food is at the peak of flavor and nutrient content. Eating locally grown foods can help your body adapt to your climate.


Vitamins and Minerals : Vitamins and Minerals Our soils have been so over-farmed that the foods we eat today have many less nutrients than even 30 years ago. Sea vegetables are a great source of MANY vitamins and minerals. Some people crush up seaweed and use it in a salt shaker. Dried seaweed is a good, crunchy salt fix.


Carbohydrates: Grains, Breads, Pasta, Potatoes : Carbohydrates: Grains, Breads, Pasta, Potatoes Whole grains are best! They offer carbohydrates as well as vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and healthy fats. Examples: corn and whole wheat tortillas, brown rice, Whole grain breads and pancakes, sweet potatoes, squash, potatoes, rice cakes, oatmeal, spaghetti, etc.


Protein: Eggs, Fish, Chicken, Beef , Pork : Protein: Eggs, Fish, Chicken, Beef , Pork Look for products that have been raised in a healthy way. Free range chickens and eggs, Fresh not farm raised fish, and chicken, beef, pork and dairy products that have not been given antibiotics and hormones.


High protein snacks : High protein snacks Hard boiled eggs Cottage Cheese Nuts Fruit smoothies with milk or soy milk along with tofu or protein powder Peanut butter on apples or celery


Fats: Olive Oil, Butter, Cheese, Nuts, Dressings. : Fats: Olive Oil, Butter, Cheese, Nuts, Dressings. Choose organic! Buy raw nuts and seeds instead of those roasted in cheep oils. Beware of rancid oils. Know that most pale yellow, tasteless, odorless oils have been deodorized, filtered and refined, often using chemical solvents and high heat to extract the oil. Examples of high quality fats: Almonds, avocados, cashews, olive oil, butter, nut butters, sunflower seeds, salad dressings.


What are fats? : What are fats? Fats contain essential fatty acids. They are the "active ingredient" in every bodily process you can name: Brain cell function and nervous system activity Hormones and intra-cellular messengers Glandular function and immune system operation Hemoglobin oxygen-transport system Cell wall function: passing oxygen into the cell passing nutrients into the cell keeping foreign bodies out of the cell Digestive-tract operation assimilating nutrients blocking out allergens


The two most important essential fatty acids are omega-3 and omega-6 : The two most important essential fatty acids are omega-3 and omega-6 Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce inflammation and most omega-6 fatty acids tend to promote inflammation. The typical American diet is heavy in Omega-6-fatty acids, many have a ratio of 35 or 40:1. This explains the explosion of inflammatory diseases in this country. Need to make a conscious effort to bring the ratio as close to 1:1 as possible.


Where to get omega-3-fatty acids : Where to get omega-3-fatty acids Fish is the main source of omega-3 fatty acids, they are also found in: soybean and canola oils, flaxseed, flaxseed oil, walnuts, walnut oil, and leafy green vegetables. The Mediterranean diet does not include much meat (which is high in omega-6 fatty acids) and emphasizes foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids including whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, olive oil, and garlic.


Saturated v. Unsaturated Fats : Saturated v. Unsaturated Fats Saturated fats contain only small quantities of the polyunsaturated fats that contain the essential fatty acids you need. Plus, being saturated, the body must work harder to get those few essential fatty acids. The body will create the sensation of hunger until enough EFA’s have been consumed, thus the more saturated fats, the more hunger, leading to obesity. However, both are natural and the body can use them for energy


BEWARE of hydrogenated oils : BEWARE of hydrogenated oils Hydrogenation - a process of heating an oil and passing hyrdrogen bubbles through it. The fatty acids in the oil then acquire some of the hydrogen, which makes it more dense. If you fully hydrogenate, you create a solid (a fat) out of the oil. But if you stop part way, you create a semi-solid partially hydrogenated oil that has a consistency like butter, only its a lot cheaper. These oils bind to cell walls like EFA’s but do not perform the functions of the EFA’s It takes 51 days to metabolize a hydrogenated oil, compared to 18 for an EFA Like saturated fats, they create hunger but much, much more


Effects of consuming partially hydrogenated oil: : Effects of consuming partially hydrogenated oil: Lowers the "good" HDL cholesterol Raises the LDL cholesterol Raises the atherogenic (producing athersclerosis) lipoprotein (a) in humans; Lowers the amount of cream (volume) in milk from lactating females in all species studied, including humans, thus lowering the overall quality available to the infant; Correlates to low birth weight in human infants; Increases blood insulin levels in humans in response to glucose load, increasing risk for diabetes; and Decreases the response of the red blood cell to insulin, thus having a potentially undesirable effect in diabetics; Affects the immune response by lowering efficiency of B cell response and increasing proliferation of T cells; Decreases levels of testosterone in male animals, increases level of abnormal sperm, and interferes with gestation in females; Causes adverse alterations in the activities of the important enzyme system that metabolizes chemical carcinogens and drugs (medications), i.e., the mixed function oxidase cytochromes P-448/450; Causes alterations in adipose cell size, cell number, lipid class, and fatty acid composition; Escalates adverse effects of essential fatty acid deficiency; Increases peroxisomal activity (potentiates free-radical formation).


And they’re in EVERYTHING : And they’re in EVERYTHING Cookies Crackers Margarine Peanut Butter Potato chips Non-dairy topping (i.e. Cool Whip) Microwave popcorn Frozen dinners And the list goes on and on


Enough on that… : Enough on that… Keep foods simple Natural peanut butter (contains only peanuts) Pop your own popcorn Buy natural brands that advertise no partially or fully hydrogenated oils/trans-fatty acids Read labels


Introducing “solid” food to your baby : Introducing “solid” food to your baby Don’t rush it Not really solid at all Good first foods Avocado Banana Sweet potatoes Mix mashed food with enough breast milk or formula to make it runny Wait four days between each new food


Be very careful with Dairy : Be very careful with Dairy Number 1 food allergen. Look for signs of food allergies, diaper rash, dark circles under the eyes, excema, difficulty breathing/asthma, colicky past 4 months of age, chronic sleeping problems, and recurrent infections. Problem may be introducing it too early. One year is recommended by some experts. Yogurt is a great source because the lactose has already been eaten and converted by the bacteria in the yogurt, but still has the calcium and other essential nutrients of milk


Finger Foods For Your Older Baby : Finger Foods For Your Older Baby Pieces of ripe peach, nectarine, banana, plum or melon. Steamed fruits and veggies such as apple, pear, carrots, peas, zucchini… Dried fruits that have been soaked in water Rice cakes Well-cooked beans Whole grain bread, noodles or pasta, cereals


Picky Eaters : Picky Eaters Don’t make meal time a battle. The child doesn’t have to eat every bite on their plate. One bite of each thing on the plate is a good rule. Be a good example, eat what your child is eating and talk about how good and good for you it is. Save your binge and junk food eating until your child is not around. Give the child limited choices – a banana or some yogurt. A peanut butter or a turkey sandwich. Do not ask, “what do you want to eat?” Let them help in buying a preparing the food, they’ll have more interest if they are invested in the decisions. Even better, get them to help grow some carrots, beets or turnips. Fast growing foods work better for children. Do not reward or punish with food.


“Everything in moderation, including moderation.” : “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” -Mark Twain